Let’s Spice it Up!
In a 1596, Elizabethan Age English “cookery book” titled “The Good Huswifes Jewell”, a recipe to improve wine by warming it and adding spices was included. While the verb “to mull”, meaning to heat, sweeten and flavor wine or cider with spices was not used until 1618 according to Merriam-Webster, the warming of wine with added spices goes back to ancient times. For as long as wine has been made there have always been efforts to improve its palatability and deliciousness.
Hippocras, a Greek-spiced wine named after Hippocrates, the father of medicine, was surplus wine from the harvest that had spices dumped in and then warmed to make it appetizing. There were also beliefs that wine so treated had medicinal properties.
During the time the Romans spread throughout their known world, the heating and spicing of left over wine became common practice. Their 1st Century recipe for Conditum Paradoxum was somewhat more complex than Greek recipes with the Roman’s objective to mask the taste of poorly stored wine and again add some medicinal benefits for the soldiers. The Conditum Paradoxum became so popular that it was a featured wine of the Saturnalia Festival at the winter solstice. By the 5th and 6th centuries Apicius’ Roman cookbook had the recipe – one part wine and one part honey, boiled and reduced. Then a mixture of pepper, bay leaf, saffron and dates was added. Believe it or not you can buy Conditum Paradoxum today, but made with a decent wine.
The Greek-Roman legacy of warmed, spiced wine became popular in the Middle Ages. Water was not always safe to drink and wine with spices was believed once again to be medicinally healthy and much more flavorsome. In the 13th century warmed wine was a regular beverage of the Kings of England and as mentioned above, by the 17th century it was called mulled wine. The acceptance of mulled wine became so widespread that at least 20 different European countries have their own names for their regional versions. The recipes basically start with a decent bottle of red wine and then add a myriad of spices, fruits, nuts, fortified wine and often honey. (All the recipes can be found online.)
The strong connection of mulled wine with Christmas, although based on the warm of the Roman’s long ago winter festival, began during the Victorian era and especially with a notable reference in Charles Dickens’ 1843 novel, “The Christmas Carol.” Eliza Acton’s recipe for this particular mulled wine in her 1845 modern cookery book included lemons, cloves, cinnamon, mace, allspice, ginger, sugar and a little nutmeg. Merchants of the period began selling it in Christmas-themed bottles with its very unusual name. Just one quiz question for this Wine Wisdom.
What was the mulled wine in Charles Dickens’ The Christmas Carol called?
a. Smoking Bishop (port)
b. Smoking Pope (burgundy)
c. Smoking Cardinal (champagne)
d. Smoking Archbishop (claret)
e. Church Warden (ginger wine)
These are all the actual names of different mulled wine recipes from Victorian England.
Answer: A – Smoking Bishop – Ebenezer Scrooge offers to share a bowl with Tom Cratchit at the end of the book.
So, join the Varietal Hour on Tuesday, December 9 at 7 p.m. on Zoom (Event sign ups on OCWS website) and share some old fashion holiday cheer.
—CL Keedy, Wine Education Committee